Media Evaluation

The media product I have created uses such things as titles, barcodes and pictures but I haven’t used any fancy programmes to make good looking fonts to help me be similar with other magazines so it’s not entirely the same as the real media products.

My media product is a bit different with the background picture on the magazine and also the magazines web address in the top left corner, the left side of the magazine is organised like a girl would be but then the right should is just like a boy with messy unorganised titles and etc its like this to try and catch both genders eyes to there side of the magazine.

My media product represents    boys more and attracts the gamers and sporty types of social groups for girls it could do the same thing but it also attracts the type of social groups who like to hear gossip of latest celebrities so in total it at least attracts 3 types of social groups to my media product. 

My audience for my Media Product is aimed at 16 – 18 year old college/school students, because it is a college/school magazine also the audience would be gamers, people interested in football and people who are into gossip this magazine aims at both genders to try and attract more of a audience, you could maybe even say staff would like to read the magazine because it holds college information and events that will happen.

I attracted my audience by using big red font for titles to try and catch there eyes to the titles they may be interested in, also quick simple titles to read quickly and not get them bored I’ve done this because students wouldn’t read a lot of writing and easily get bored so quick effective titles to get the message across quick to the students. Also it’s the same on the content page as well nice and simply to point out the information of which page for the topic on the back and a good background photo to keep them interested.

I have learnt how to use Publisher more effectively when it comes to designing in Publisher I had no problems maybe the front cover background but I learnt I can send it to the back and then put all the writing and etc over it, I think I achieved a well designed magazine that is attractive to my type of audience, the technology helps me with creative writing to make it look more attractive on titles, from this preliminary task overall I have learnt how to create a magazine from scratch and that’s is by doing my own research to see what my target audience would like to see on a magazine to attract them, and also I think I have gained a bit more of a design skills

Magazine Front Cover & Contents

Live to Play Front Cover.

Live to Play Contents.

Magazine Content Flatplan

Magazine Content Flatplan.

Ideas and Sketch of Front Cover

Who is your target audience (think about social groups)?

I want to aim for people interested in sports, games, college information and gossip i chose sports and games because it has a big audience more people will be interested, college information for everyone and to keep them updated and last is gossip is for the females because i wanted to also try and get more of a audience with the female gender to make my magazine more popular.

What things did your research show must included (articles/themes colours etc)?

My research most included what should be on the front cover to catch the attention of my target audience such as the topics, pictures etc.

Ideas for lead article which will feature heavily on the front page?

The leading articles with be Sports this has a large audience and is a common thing people have a converstation about everyday.

Branding

What is the magazine going to be called and why (fit in with audience)?

I have decided after being rejected ideas such as Nerd and Bow & Arrow, the title Live to Play this goes with the two major topics on my magazine which is sports and games so my audience who are interested in these things will know why the title is called Live to Play.

Designs - What designs will you use in order to attract your target audience?

Draw / sketch a number of ideas which link with your magazine concept , - You may wish to research a number of magazines / mastheads to help with this.

Comment your feedback on what you think of my magazine flatplan.

Analysis of Questionnaire

I gave the most picked answers on my questionnaire what would be picked overall for the magazine, the majority gender who answered this questionnaire were male meaning this magazine could maybe not be suitable for women, but would be suitable for men I will properly need to somehow even it out to make the magazine for both genders to get a larger range of readers. This magazine questionnaire is suited for school/college students 16 – 18 year olds because of the topics that are going to be involved in this magazine and also because of the price will be in the range of students to buy.

For my magazine I will have to make the front cover attractive so it catches the eye of the viewers straight away and keeps them under the spell of the front cover, the magazine will be able sports, games, information about college and gossip, sports has a big audience and also games as well so I combined both topics to create a name for my magazine, Live to Play this title can apply to both topics and also I have had feedback on the title and told it was a good idea. One thing to avoid though is topic headlines that do not interest anyone this won’t attract my target audience to read my magazines.

I think it will be a challenge to fit all these topic headlines in for the front cover and to make them interesting enough for the viewers also I think the background will matter as well to fit with the topics and pictures.

Media – Magazine Questionnaire

Online Survey

I have asked seven questions to determine how my magazine should be for example for topics will I put in my magazine for the readers, hopefully by asking these questions I will be able to come up with a magazine for a school/college that will be suitable plus interesting for them to read and at a reasonable price for them to purchase.

Here are my questions; I have been able to narrow down out of the 26 people I was able to get a completed questionnaire out of the final answers for each question to determine the sort of magazine I will produce, this questionaaire was sent to others online by social networks and email they were only sent to school/college students, also the answers on the questionaaire are the answers i got and most common out of the 26 people who asked but they are put into my own words.

1.     How much income/pocket money/lunch money do you gain? Maximum of £3 per day for lunch.

2.     What attracts you to a magazine? Interesting topics on the front cover, Pictures

3.     What doesn’t attract you to a magazine? Uninteresting topic headlines on the front cover

4.     What kind of topic would you be interested in reading in a magazine?

Sports

Fashion

Gossip

Information

Education

Culture

Food

Other - Games

5.     How often do you regurely read the college magazine? Sometimes (Once a month or twice specify)

6.     Does the front cover make a first impression on your judgement before you have read it? Yes

7.     Do you like little writing on a magazine and loads of pictures or not so many pictures with a lot of writing or evened out words and pictures? Evened out words and pictures

FourFourTwo Analysis

FourFourTwo the name of this Magazine relates to football formations and is the most common formation used so any football fan would know this magazine is about football. Also the image of David Villa a famous Spanish football player stands in the middle meaning it’s about him and Spain (Which it is because Spain won the World Cup) also the magazine background is the Spanish flag which is flying in the background showing proud for their country, in the bottom right is the least important thing on a front cover and that is the bar code and the most important thing is in a big font clear for everyone to see and that is David Villa it wants you to see ‘Exclusive interview with David Villa’ they’ve got him because he is the match winner people would want to know how the experience of winning for their country and winning the most major cup event of all time the world cup. The writing in yellow writing is also another eye catching technique to interest the viewers; there normally the interesting things they would want their viewers to see such as ‘FA CUP FINAL WRESTLING!’ and  ‘HAT-TRICKS’.

Also in the bottom right corner which they don’t want the viewers really to notice is the title ‘Things we hate about football’ it’s out the way because this magazine is aimed at football fans of any age but under the title is ‘even though it’s still the best thing on the planet’ gives the relief sensation of knowing even though there are things to hate it is the best thing on this planet. Also the least important bits are in a small font at the top, the magazine costs £4.10 this means the company who make these magazines are confident in selling the magazines because of their big audience but I would say it’s aimed at the working class people instead of students.

Media Skills Audit - Albie Thurkle 12G

1.       I work well as a part of a team.   3

2.       I work better independently.   2

3.       I am confident that I can recognise the audience of various media texts.   2

4.       I am confident that I can recognise representation in various media texts.   3

5.       I am confident that I can research the institutions involved in the creation of various media texts.   3

6.       I am confident that I can replicate the production practices of various media texts.   3

7.       I am confident that I can recognise the narrative of various media texts.   4

8.       I am confident that I can recognise the genre of various media texts.   5

9.       I am confident that I can analyse the audience of various media texts.   3

10.    I am confident that I can analyse representation in various media texts.   4

11.    I am confident that I can analyse the institutions involved in the creation of various media texts.   2

12.    I am confident that I can analyse the production practices of various media texts.   3

13.    I am confident that I can analyse the narrative of various media texts.   3

14.    I am confident that I can analyse the genre of various media texts.   4

Brief 1 Print:

1.       I am skilled at using desktop publishing software like Publisher.   5

2.       I have a lot of experience in taking digital photographs.   1

3.       I am proficient at manipulating images and text in Publisher.   3

4.       I have a lot of practise of using photographic software like photoshop.   3

5.       I read a lot of magazines.   1

6.       I have designed magazines before.   1

7.       I have a good knowledge of what looks good on a page.   3

8.       I am a good writer.   4

9.       I know the terminology of magazines and newspapers thoroughly.   2

10.    I am confident I know the names of the different shot types and camera angles well.   3

Brief 2 Video:

1.       I am adept at using a digital camcorder.   1

2.       I have made videos before.   2

3.       I have used editing software like Windows Moviemaker many times.   1

4.       I am aware of the terminology of video editing.   2

5.       I watch a lot of different types of film.   4

6.       I am confident I know the names of the different shot types and camera angles well.   4

7.       I am good at scriptwriting.   3

8.       I am a proficient storyboarder.   3

9.       I have acted in front of an audience many times.   2

10.    I am confident I could recruit actors to play parts in short films.   3

Brief 3 Audio:

1.       I listen to the radio often.   1

2.       I have used audio recording software before.   1

3.       I am interested in music.   3

4.       I make my own music (including DJing).   1

5.       I have acted in front of an audience many times.   2

6.       I have listened to many different types of radio show including soap opera.   2

7.       I am confident I could recruit actors to play parts on a radio show.   2

Brief 4 Website:

1.       I use the internet for many different purposes.   5

2.       I am skilled at using desktop publishing software like Publisher.   3

3.       I am proficient at manipulating images and text in Publisher.   3

4.       I have a good knowledge of what looks good on a page.   3

5.       I have a lot of experience in taking digital photographs.   1

6.       I have a lot of practise of using photographic software like Photoshop.   2

7.       I am proficient at creating digital video.   2

8.       I have created or added to websites before.   3

The Presentation of the Research:

1.       I am confident I can use PowerPoint effectively.   5

2.       I often add to online blogs or forums.   2

3.       I have used audio visual software to create podcasts before.   1

The Evaluation of the Research:

15.    I am organised and keep an effective record of my work.   3

16.    I am good at recognising my own strengths.   4

My Skills Audit

A personal skills audit has allowed me to focus on my strengths and weaknesses in media.  My strengths lie in a number of key areas.  I am able to analyse a number of images (moving and still) and focus on the genre, the meanings created by the artist, mise-en-scene, body language, facial expressions and how these things create meaning and then developing my analysis further. Also I can use programmes such as PowerPoint

The things I need to improve on is taking digital pictures I am not experienced in taking photos with a digital camera, and have never experienced using photoshop or moviemaker, I am not a independent worker which means I need to improve on my individual skills, I take longer to finish a task of because I take longer to think and work out how to organise my work so I need more knowledge on taking photos, using programmes such as photoshop and moviemaker and becoming more independent.